HRR seems like a better way to look at HR zones. But this is old news, research of the 60’s. But does the HR range says something about the size of our engines?….At lest seems like a better measure of what we have to work with than % of HR max.
Aged 54
Resting 35
Max 176
Range 141bpm.
When I was in my 20s doing triathlon it was 32-189 so 157 so I’ve lost some range in 35 years of triathlon, marathon running and most recently TT
I’m 43
Max: 173bpm, but I’ve seen up to 176 if I’m not feeling well.
Resting: 52-55bpm. I’ve noticed that my VO2max has increased from when I was at a resting of 60bpm, from 46 ml/min/kg to 53 ml/min/kg. I guess it’s obvious that an increase in HRR should be an indication that VO2max has increased somewhat proportionally?.
HRR: 120bpm
In my experience, Heart Rate Recovery (I.e. how quickly your HR returns to a baseline after a hard effort has much more to do with fitness and engine than a larger range.
I’ve worked with a couple coaches who have noted after workouts where my HR plummets after a hard effort that this is a sign I’m getting fit. I’m not sure HR Range tells you much of your overall capacity. I could be wrong. Not one of my coaches have ever asked me about my range.
HRR is not going to be a strong predictor of performance in a homogenous group (i.e., a group of 1000 trained male cyclists between the age of 20-25 years old). If you look at it over a large group that vary widely in age (say 20-70 years of age) HRR will appear to be a determinant of performance. however, this will be the result of an age-related reduction in HRmax and therefore HRR… so in fact reduced HRR is just identifying those that likely are older and in general have reduced VO2 Max levels (a near inevitable fact of aging for most). Another way to think of it is that HRmax is not a predictor of performance in a homegenous young group. a 20 year old with a max HR of 200 (rider1) will not necessarily have better performance or VO2 Max than a 20 year old with a max HR of 180 (rider2). The reason for this is in part because HR near max does not effectively increase cardiac output as stroke volume (the other determinant of max cardiac output along with HR) starts to decrease and cardiac output generally levels off at max effort.
Also you need to be careful using resting HR determined at rest while supine. these can differ pretty substantially from HR measured upright (~5-20 beats/min) such as when we are cycling.